Vol. 18, No. 2 • May 2014

Raise the Age: Why It Matters

by Mark Maxwell, PhD

Right now if a 16- or 17-year-old in North Carolina commits a crime, they could have a criminal record for life. That's true even if the crime is nonviolent. Today North Carolina and New York are the only states that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to face adult charges if they break the law. A petty crime committed as a youth could prevent someone from getting a job, even many years after they've turned their lives around.

NCFAPA Supports Raise the Age
The North Carolina Foster and Adoptive Parent Association supports efforts to "Raise the Age" of juvenile jurisdiction from age 16 to 18 for youth who commit misdemeanors.

Why? We believe the law shouldn't treat teens as adults because they aren't adults. Teens' brains are still developing, which hampers their ability to control impulses and make decisions. According to the Journal of Adolescent Heath (Johnson, et al., 2009), the parts of the brain responsible for "planning, working memory, and impulse control are among the last areas of the brain to mature; they may not be fully developed until halfway through the third decade of life."

Treating teens who commit misdemeanors like adults is costly both to youth and to society. According to the NC Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and the NC Department of Corrections (2006), youth exposed to the adult criminal system are more than twice as likely to be reconvicted of crimes as youth who are punished and rehabilitated in the juvenile system. What's more, Congressional findings in the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 estimated that youth were five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult facilities; often they are assaulted during their first 48 hours of incarceration (Parsell, 2012).

Let's keep youth in the juvenile system. This provides more opportunities for rehabilitation, improves public safety, and eliminates unnecessary roadblocks to life success.

"Raising the Age" of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 18 will allow us to turn our kids into productive adults while still holding them accountable for their actions.

Legislative Support
In the session that begins in May 2014, the North Carolina legislature will consider H725, a bipartisan bill known as "Young Offenders Rehabilitation Act." H725 seeks to raise the age for youth accused of minor offenses.

Brandy Bynum, Director of Policy and Outreach with the advocacy organization NC Child, strongly supports H725. When I spoke to her she said that a failure to pass the bill would bar youth from access to education and employment by branding them with a criminal record for life. Bynum says that people are often astonished--and rightly so--to learn that North Carolina youth can face adult records at age 16. We need to change this.

What Can You Do?
The North Carolina Foster and Adoptive Parent Association encourages you to contact your legislator today and ask them to support H725. The bill is up for a third reading in the House this month! If it passes, it will then be in the hands of the NC senate.

Mark Maxwell is a foster and adoptive father and the proud parent of four boys.

To view references cited in this and other articles in this issue, click here.

~ Family and Children's Resource Program, UNC-CH School of Social Work ~